Re: Please help me make a decision!

Having had experience with both, I would readily recommend the Pearl over the Yamaha.

Both Flutes are quite nice but I found the Pearl has a quite lighter touch, making it a lot more comfortable to play on - the keys go down a lot faster with less effort.

The Yamaha and the Pearl have both a nice tone. I personally preferred the Pearl, it sounded a bit more mellow in my opinion, but this is a personal opinion and you might have to try and see if a store stocks a similar Flute to the Pearl - anything from the Quantz series as they have the same Headjoint type - albeit different materials (which the effect is debatable anyway) to see if you prefer the tone of the Yamaha or the Pearl.

And here is what the Pinless Construction is apparently for: http://www.pearlflutes.com/pinless-construction.html

Please note that some of what I have said is based on opinion and I know some others may disagree, so the only way to find out is to try both (if possible) and see which you prefer.

Yamaha 211 is a sturdy instrument that if well cared will work fine for a long time. You could try buying used. I have one as a second flute and I am quite happy with it. I prefer it over the 221 because the E mechanism. Beware that both YFL211 and 221 have covered keys (closed holes); for ring keys (open holes) you have the YFL 271/261

Key vibration may be cool, but I don't think it's good, each time I had a key vibrating it was the pad that does not seal perfectly (the air try to go out at the frequency of the note you play, this makes the pad to vibrate)